I examine the changing attitudes of Oskar Klein (1894--1977) and Albert Einstein (1879--1955) toward the notion of extending general relativity by an extra dimension with the aim of encompassing electromagnetism and gravitation in a unified field theory. I show how Klein developed his model of five-dimensional unification with the goal of explaining the discreteness of atomic energy levels, and how Einstein later embraced that goal. By examining the correspondence between Klein and Einstein, some of which was relayed through Paul Ehrenfest (1880--1933), I speculate that Klein's work helped motivate Einstein to explore deterministic five-dimensional theories as a potential alternative to probabilistic quantum mechanics. Finally, I consider the contributions of Wolfgang Pauli (1900--1958) to the subject and elucidate his role in convincing Klein and Einstein that their models were not viable.
...MoreDescription Looks at the correspondence between Klein and Einstein, some relayed through Paul Ehrenfest; also looks at the contributions of Wolfgang Pauli.
Similar Citations
Article
Giulio Peruzzi;
Alessio Rocci;
(2019)
Quantum Cultures during the Prehistory of Quantum Gravity: Léon Rosenfeld's Early Contributions to Quantum Gravity
(/isis/citation/CBB959398801/)
Article
Tilman Sauer;
Tobias Schütz;
(2021)
Einstein's Washington Manuscript on Unified Field Theory
(/isis/citation/CBB020200406/)
Article
Stachel, John;
(2005)
Einstein et “Zweistein”
(/isis/citation/CBB001252089/)
Article
Giannetto, Enrico R. A.;
(2009)
The Electromagnetic Conception of Nature at the Root of the Special and General Relativity Theories and Its Revolutionary Meaning
(/isis/citation/CBB001032842/)
Article
Sommer, Klaus P.;
(2005)
In das Deutschland “von Hilbert und Einstein”. Briefe von Einstein, Planck, Nernst, Debye, Born, Sommerfeld, Courant, Ehrenfest, Weyl und Althoff an David Hilbert, gefunden auf einem Göttinger Dachboden
(/isis/citation/CBB000670823/)
Article
Sauer, Tilman;
(2008)
Nova Geminorum 1912 and the Origin of the Idea of Gravitational Lensing
(/isis/citation/CBB000773886/)
Book
Eisenstaedt, Jean;
(2006)
The Curious History of Relativity: How Einstein's Theory of Gravity Was Lost and Found Again
(/isis/citation/CBB000741825/)
Book
Collins, Harry;
(2013)
Gravity's Ghost and Big Dog: Scientific Discovery and Social Analysis in the Twenty-First Century
(/isis/citation/CBB001213158/)
Article
Rowe, David E.;
(2001)
Einstein Meets Hilbert: At the Crossroads of Physics and Mathematics
(/isis/citation/CBB000102532/)
Article
Pound, Robert V.;
(2000)
Weighing Photons, I
(/isis/citation/CBB000110128/)
Book
Ron Cowen;
(2019)
Gravity’s Century: From Einstein’s Eclipse to Images of Black Holes
(/isis/citation/CBB699668949/)
Article
Tilman Sauer;
(2021)
Soldner, Einstein, Gravitational Light Deflection and Factors of Two
(/isis/citation/CBB321888925/)
Article
Torretti, Roberto;
(2000)
Gravity as spacetime curvature
(/isis/citation/CBB000110494/)
Book
Einstein, Albert;
Buchwald, Diana Kormos;
(2012)
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein: Writings and Correspondence, January 1922--March 1923
(/isis/citation/CBB001252282/)
Book
Meyenn, Karl von;
(2005)
Wolfgang Pauli: Wissenschaftlicher Briefwechsel mit Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg u.a. Vol. 4, Part 4, 1957--1958
(/isis/citation/CBB000740322/)
Book
Meyenn, Karl von;
(2001)
Wolfgang Pauli: Wissenschaftlicher Briefwechsel mit Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg u.a. Vol. 4, Part 3, 1955--1956
(/isis/citation/CBB000740321/)
Chapter
Renn, Jürgen;
Sauer, Tilman;
(2003)
Eclipses of the Stars: Mandl, Einstein, and the Early History of Gravitational Lensing
(/isis/citation/CBB000430186/)
Book
Wuensch, Daniela;
(2005)
“Zwei wirkliche Kerle”: Neues zur Entdeckung der Gravitationsgleichungen der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie durch Albert Einstein und David Hilbert
(/isis/citation/CBB000740475/)
Book
Michel Janssen;
Jürgen Renn;
(2022)
How Einstein Found His Field Equations: Sources and Interpretation
(/isis/citation/CBB332571520/)
Article
Sauer, Tilman;
(2006)
Field Equations in Teleparallel Space-Time: Einstein's Fernparallelismus Approach Toward Unified Field Theory
(/isis/citation/CBB000771355/)
Be the first to comment!